


Elevator Music

by thedovahcat



Series: The Run-Arounds [4]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-10
Updated: 2017-01-10
Packaged: 2018-09-16 14:16:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9275741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedovahcat/pseuds/thedovahcat
Summary: One shouldn't assume all elevators in a post-apocalyptic wasteland work correctly. Luckily the old synth's around to get them out.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly half of the elevators leading conveniently to the bottom of buildings you scale shouldn't even be able to work.
> 
> Elsewise, Hancock and Cat needed some bonding time.

“Hey there’s an elevator here. Can we take it to the bottom floor?” A partially rusted pair of elevator doors stood ominously before the three of them. Cat peered over towards her companions a few times trying to guess what they were thinking.

Hancock smirked and looked over to the synth (who had a somewhat annoyed look on his face already.) “Can we? I’ll go with her.”

“I don’t trust that thing as far as I can throw it. And that’s not far. You sure the cables on this thing are working and won’t just fall apart the minute you step foot in there?”

“Guess there’s really only one way to find out. C’mon!” The girl went on ahead, pressing the button and hopping into the empty elevator the moment it opened up. Hancock followed after her and got inside, the both of them giving Nick a wave shortly after. “We’ll see you at the bottom Nick!”

“All right. Don’t take too long.” The old synth turned his back and headed for the staircase leading down just as the doors closed. They’d be fine, he told himself. It was only a relatively short ride anyway. Compared to taking the stairs that is.

The elevator shook and rattled as it began to descend. Faint music played over the speaker in the ceiling, making the ride more awkward than it was worth.

About ten seconds passed. “Damn, what a long way down. Bet that old man’s sprinting down to come and meet us first.” The mayor chuckled as he stuffed one hand into his coat pocket. The other firmly grasped his rifle, finger still at the ready and near the trigger.

Cat snickered. “I can see it now. Him leaping down entire flights of stairs and nearly busting his legs just trying to beat us.”

“You know he would.”

“I know.” She knew it wasn’t true. Nick was too classy for that.

Another ten seconds quickly passed and they still weren’t at the ground floor yet.

“Man, we didn’t go up THAT high… there were only like four or five floors-” Hancock began to complain again, shifting his weight into a more exasperated posture. Suddenly the elevator jolted violently, knocking them off their feet entirely. Everything stopped, and as they were peeling their faces off the floor, the ghoul let out a few curses. Thank God his gun didn’t go off.

“What happened??” Cat reached forward blindly to press one of the buttons on the wall panel, but there was no reaction. No start up sounds, no movement. Just dark. Even the music had stopped playing, like the entire metal box had suddenly lost all its power.

“I dunno, but I don’t think we’re moving… Why ain’t the doors opening?” The mayor moved closer towards the doors and prodded at them with his gun. “Hey Valentine! Are we here at the bottom?!” He called out. They received no answer or any kind of hint that Nick was even around.

“Oh God, are we stuck in here? We are, aren’t we?” They might have been in the dark, but Hancock could see surprisingly well as opposed to Cat. Her eyes were starting to bug out and that usual grin on her face was completely gone.

“What? No, we’re just...” He paused, then sighed loudly in defeat. “Just… a little stuck. But it’s no big deal, I’ll get us out. You just sit tight kitty.”

Cat swallowed the lump forming in her throat and scooted to the back of the over-glorified steel container that was an elevator. Slowly she hugged her knees to her chest and sat quietly as Hancock tried everything he could think of to get them moving again, or at least out of there. But so far, nothing was working.

“Shit… Nick doesn’t know we’re stuck either… At least I don’t think so. If anybody can figure out a way to get this thing working again, it’s him.” He moved away from the doors and sat down cross-legged with a groan, glancing over at Cat briefly once, and then immediately again. “Woah- hey, you ok?”

Cat shook her head and curled up into an even tighter ball than she had been in before, only she was shivering now. “Y-Yeah.” Instead of loud and boisterous, her voice shakily came out with all the forcefulness of a radioactive mouse.

“Hey, hey! It’ll be ok, you’ll see. Nick’s good about this kind of thing. Hell, it’s real lucky we have him with us all the time.” He slid closer and offered a reassuring pat on the back. The girl sniffed loudly and ended up crawling over to him, climbing right onto his lap. “No long faces, c’mon. Think about it. We coulda been shot going all the way up to the top the entire time we’ve been here.”

“Yeah… I guess…”

“Whaddya mean ‘you guess’? It’s true!” Hancock shook his head and straightened out his dusty coat a little.

“Well...” Cat sniffed again and rubbed her nose with her sleeve. “What if Nick can’t find us or he thinks we left?”

“Cat. He wouldn’t. Trust me. Cuz I trust him.”

They sat there in the pitch black dark, waiting and hoping things would start to move on their own. But they weren’t.

“What’s that Pip-boy of yours say? Does it have the time?? I dunno how long we’ve been in here...”

The glowing screen blinded them briefly with a harsh orange light as it turned on. Cat frowned a little as the system loaded. “Well...when we came in, it was still light outside. Or at least it was a LITTLE bit… I dunno what time it was though...” A crude map came onto the screen, with the time flashing in the corner. “Eleven-thirty-two abouts...”

“Well, we gotta have been stuck in here for at LEAST an-”

The speaker above them let out a loud hissing noise as it came back to life. But that was the only part of the elevator that did. The static fizzled obnoxiously for a moment, sounding very eerie, when an even scarier disembodied voice began to talk through it. Their hair stood on end initially (well, Cat’s did anyway,) but they soon recognized it.

“Hey- … this thing- ….working? Are you two IN that damned thing still??”

“HEY NICK!-” Hancock shot up, bringing Cat with him. “LISTEN WE-”

“If you’re saying anything I can’t hear it right now. I’ve rerouted just enough power to get the speaker and the emergency intercom inside to work. You’ll have to press the button and hold it to actually-” The speaker popped again.

Cat rushed for the panel and shined the Pip-boy’s light on it. “Where- where...this one!” She pounded it with her fist and held it there. “NICK! Get us out! We’re stuck and- and I don’t know if we’ll run outta air and it’s DARK and-”

“Woah, slow down there. I’m working on it.” Nick interrupted. “When I got down to the second level I heard the whole thing suddenly jam. It was pretty loud. Sounded through the whole building for all I know. I’ve got a terminal up and working though; seems the system just kinda locked up. I should have it going in a jiffy though so just be patient.”

Hancock breathed a sigh of relief. “There, see? Told you he had this handled. Hey NICK I OWE YA ONE AFTER WE GET OUTTA HERE!”

“Stop shouting, I can hear just fine.”

They stood around waiting some more for what seemed like an eternity. Cat still looked pretty worried, and eventually just stood at the mayor’s side, grabbing at his arm for comfort.

In front of them, the elevator buttons blinked a few times before maintaining a steady light.

“Ok, that should do it. Hit the ground floor again and let’s get outta here already. I don’t wanna be around incase a group of raiders decides to do something with the place.”

The ghoul pressed the first floor button twenty times too many and the elevator began to move again, creaking and threatening to stop again. But thankfully, it didn’t. Cat just hung onto his arm the entire time, not at all interested in letting go, or moving.

At last the doors opened and Nick was waiting there for them, not looking very impressed. “Huh, guess that’s one way to fix one’a these things. I’ll keep it in mind. But, in the future, no more elevators. We’re taking the stairs.”

“You ain’t gettin’ any arguments from me. C’mon kitty-Cat.” Hancock stooped down lower, allowing Cat to climb onto his back for a ride.

As they walked out of the abandoned tower, Nick looked over at them, raising a brow. “So, have fun in there? Amazed she fell asleep THAT fast today.”

“Yeah,” Hancock snorted, slowing down for a moment to make sure she wouldn’t go falling off. “I mean, well not FUN but… You know.”

“No. I’m afraid I don’t. At least not with you.” The synth answered quietly.

“Nevermind.”

Outside the moon shone overhead in the almost-black sky as they exited into the remnants of the city. “Well whatever the case, we better get moving and find some place to stay for the night.”

The mayor shrugged lightly. “I still owe you that ‘one.’ You get to pick whatever that ‘one’ will be.”

“I think I’ll hold off on it. Let’s go.”


End file.
